Mine trap-door



(No Model.)

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Patented Aug. 23, |898. J. UBRIEN.

mma TRAP nooR.

(Application led June 28, 1897.)

No. 609,746. Patented Aug. 23, |898.'- J. oBmEN.

MINE TRAP DOOR.

(Application led Junea, 1897.)

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p (7 f f (S j NITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JAMES OBRIEN, or nvANsvILLn, INDIANA.

y MINE TRAP-Doon.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,746, dated August 23, 1898.

Application ledJune 23,1897.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES OBRIENV, residing at Evansville, in the county of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Mine Trap-Door, of which the following is a specification. d

My invention relates to trap-doors for mines, and has for its object to furnish a trap-door for mines to be operated by the passage of the wheels of the car over a lever located at some distance in advance of the trap-door, whereby the door is opened and held open until the car has passed through-it.

With this object in view my invention consists inthe improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, and afterward specifically pointed out in the claims.

In order to enable persons skilled in the art to which my invention most` nearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to `describe its construction and operation, having reference to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-- Figure l is a'perspective view illustrating my invention in position for practical operation. Fig.` 2 is a topplan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof including the trap-door andone set of opening mechanism with the uulatching or closing-mechanism. Fig. A is a view in side elevation of the latching and unlatching mechanism, the door being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the lower latch.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur throughout the different views.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A is the outer rail of a railwaytrack, alongside of which the shaft B is pivotally mounted in bearing-blocks C, the armsD D being rigidly secured at one end of said shaft immediately adjacent to the rail A, and an arm E projecting from the other end of the shaft B in the same radial direction as the lever D. To the outer end of the arm E is attached a chain E', which connects said arm with one end of the lever E2, Jivoted to a post F, the other end of said lever being provided with a weight E2, whereby that end of the lever E2 is normally depressed and its opposite end raised,

SerialNo.641,950. (No model.)

holding `the arm D and arm E in their upright positions. Another chain Gis attached to the end of the arm E, its outer end being attached to one end of` the lever G, also pivoted to the post F. The rod I-I connects the upper end of the lever G with the lower end of the lever I, pivoted to a post K, the upper end of said lever I being connected to one end of the rod L, which at its opposite end connects with the upper end of a leverv G2, pivoted to a post F2, and having its opposite end connected by a chain G3 to the upper end of `an arm E4, attached to a shaft B2, mounted in blocks C2 and provided at its inner end on each sideof the rail with an arm D2.

The arm D2 and the arm E4 are normally held in their upright positions by means of a chain E5, connected to one end of the lever E6, pivoted to the post F2 and carrying the weight Elat its outer end. y I The rod M connects the upper end of the lever Iv with a horizontal arm N of a vertical shaft'N,`pivoted in brackets N2, projecting from the post O and carrying near its upper end another arm P,'connected to the trapdoor by a rod Q. The rod R connects the outer end" of the arm N Withthe upper end of a `T-lever S, pivoted to a post T and car ryin g aweight U at its opposite end, whereby the arm N is normally returned to and held ina position to hold the trap-door Qin its closed position. The T-lever S is guided by a bracket YV, attached to the post 'I in such a manner as to leave a space between it and the lever S as a guideway for Asaid lever.

There are two trap-doors Q and Q4, which are swung on hinges Q2, secured to the post O, and similar hinges secured to post O, these posts being set up on opposite sides of the track and connected at their upper ends by a cross-beam O2. Triangular-shaped pieces or top flanges O3 O4 meet each other when the doors are closed, preventing the doors coming any nearer together than to about angles of thirty degrees from the line of the track.

An arm O5, rigidly secured to the inside of the door Q4, below the top piece O4, is pivot ally connected at its outer end to an arm O6, whose inner end is pivotally connected to the inside of the door Q, whereby the doors Q and Q4 are caused to move in unison.

IOO

A horizontal shaft H2 is mounted parallel.

to the rail A and outside thereof in bearingblocks H2, and has at one end an arm H5,"con

necting it to a point near one end of a bar H4, lying adjacent to the rail A in position to be depressed by a car passing over the track. The other end of the shaft H8 has an arm H2, connecting it to a point near the opposite end of bar H4, which arm is extended outwardly from the shaft and pivotally connected with a connecting-rod I'. This rod I' is pivotally connected at its upper end to a latch-lever I2 between itslatch and the opposite end, Where it is pivoted to a post I2. At its eXtreme outer end the arm H3 is pivotally connected with the lower end ofa rod I5, extending upward and pivotally connected at its upper end with the rear end of a hooklever I6, centrally pivoted to post I2. This arrangement causes the latch of the latchi lever to move upward off the bar J when the hook of lever I6 moves downward to engage a catch-bar I8 on the door Q, and vice versa, and the hook-lever I6 projects slightly farther from the post and nearer to the trap-door Q than does the latch-lever I2. The rod I has a weight I7 attached to it to hold it normally in its lower position.

In operating my invention the wheels of a car approaching vthe trap-doors, which will usually be placed between sections of the mine which it is desired to cut off from each other, will pass over the levervD, depressing it and carrying the arm-E also to a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 3. This de pression of the arm E will raise the weight E2, which will be held raised until the wheel has passed off the lever D, when it will descend and return the lever D and arm E to their vertical positions, ready for another stroke. The depression of the arm E also, through the mediuml of the chain Gr', draws the. lever Gr to its upright position, causing the rod H to move the lever I into its upright position. (Shown in Fig. 3.) This movement of the latter lever carries with it the rod M and arm N', thus causing the shaft N to partially rotate and move the arm P around-with it,

which, being connected to door Q by rod Q', will cause the door Q to open. In opening, a catch J on the door will engage under the latch I2, which will drop over it, securely holding it in its open position. The doors being connected as before stated, the door Q4 will always move with door Q. The rod Ris also moved with the arm N', bringing the lever S into the position shown in Fig. 3, in which position the weight U will be raised, as also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, ready to drop and return the lever S, rod R, arm N', shaft N, and doors Q Q4 to their normal closed positions as soon as the wheel has passed over the lever D. The same movements will take place in the parts at the other end of the machine to and including the le- Ver I, which, with the door-openin g mechanism, is common to the mechanism at both ends, when the wheel of a car approaching from the opposite direction passes over and depresses the lever D2. When the car has opened the doors and has reached the horizontal bar H4, it depresses it, and in doing so raises latch I2, but depresses the hook I6, and the hook,'as before stated, being longer than the latch the latch will be released from bar J and the hook engaging the hook I's will hold the doors open until the car has passed off the bar H4. This will allow the weight l5 to cause the rear end of the hook-arm IG to drop, raising the hooks off the catch of the door and allowing them to be closed by weight U and its connections.

The construction, operation, and advantages of my improved mechanism for automatically opening and closing trap-doors in mines by the approach of the car in either direction, its simplicity, cheapness, durability, and effectiveness will be apparent from the foregoing description and need n'otbe set forth in further detail here, and while I have illustrated and described the best means now known to me for carrying out my invention I do not Wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction and arrangement herein shown, but hold that such slight changes and variations as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic would properly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. The combination with the Vmechanism for opening mine trap-doors comprising an arm attached to the door and a vertical shaft carrying a horizontal lever connected with said arm, and a second horizontal lever, of a lever pivoted to a post and connected to said horizontal arm, two arms normally held upright adjacent to the rails in opposite directions from the trap-door, and mechanism connecting each of these arms with the lever before mentioned, whereby the depression of either of the actuating-arms by the wheels of an approaching car will actuate the door-opening mechanism, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a trap-door hinged to a vertical post and provided with projecting bars or catches at its outer end, with a post erected adjacent to the door, a latch pivoted to said post and adapted to engage with the lower catch-bar, a hook also pivoted to said post and adapted to engage with the upper catch of the door, the hook being slightly longer than the latch, and means for connecting the hook with the latch whereby when the latch is raised out of engagement with its catch-bar the hook is thrown downward into engagement with its catch-bar, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a horizontal shaft parallel to the rail, a post adjacent thereto, a latch-lever pivoted to said post, a hook-lever pivoted to said post above the latch-lever and projecting beyond its pivot, an arm project- IOO IIO

to be depressed by the ear-wheels, and a shaft, an arm, and rods connecting said bar with the latcl1-lever and hook-lever whereby the hook-lever, which is slightly longer than the latch-lever, will be actuated into engagement with the upper catch-bar of the door, when the latch-lever is released from engagement zo with the lower catch-bar, by the passage of a train, substantially as described.

JAMES OBRIEN. Witnesses:

JOEL E. WILLIAMSON, T. ALTHoUsE. 

